Strengthening Laws and Financial Institutions to Combat Emerging Trends in Money Laundering

Money is the lifeblood of all domestic and international organised crime groups regardless of whether the criminal activity giving rise to the proceeds is drug trafficking, arms smuggling, terrorism or white‐collar crime. The flow of criminally tainted money through the international banking and trading system is what sustains these criminal activities. Systemically, however, money laundering harms every legitimate business transaction that it touches. On a macroeconomic level, policy makers have emphasised that it impedes international trade and finance to such an extent as to present a serious threat to the world economy. On a microeconomic level, it can damage an institution's good reputation, the public's confidence, revenues and employee morale. This is why the world has attached heightened significance to the money‐laundering problem.